‘Aporia’ Trailer: Judy Greer Stars In A Sci-Fi Drama World Premiering At Fantasia Fest

Dennis Harvey Film Critic It’s become increasingly common to lend genre films some semblance of emotional depth by having their protagonists burdened from the start with profound grief or loss. That is especially the case with “Aporia,” producer Jared Moshe’s third feature as writer-director. Its variation on a particular kind of fantasy premise (often involving time travel) underlines the familiar wisdom of “Be careful what you wish for,” as the ability to alter tragic past events only ends up complicating the present for our main characters.

A Murder at the End of the World, the limited series that stars Emma Corrin, Clive Owen, Harris Dickinson and Brit Marling, has had its premiere pushed by FX.

It’s been three years since Woody Allen‘s last film, “Rifkin’s Festival,” which came and went without much fanfare, even with the COVID-19 pandemic going on. And at age 87, many didn’t expect Allen to keep working post-pandemic.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In one of the big deals announced out of Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival, XYZ Films has boarded North American sales rights to “New Life,” John Rosman’s feature directorial debut which is hailed by Fantasia itself as “one of the major discoveries of Fantasia 2023.” “New Life” stars Sonya Walger (“For All Mankind,” “Lost”) and Hayley Erin (“Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists,” “General Hospital”) and Tony Amendola (“Annabelle,” “Curse of Llorona”). XYZ Films has also dropped the film’s first teaser, shared in exclusivity with Variety, ahead of “New Life’s” world premiere on Aug.

Deadline can reveal a first clip for Italian director Saverio Costanzo’s new film Finally Dawn (Finalemente L’Alba) following the announcement on Tuesday of its world premiere in Competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival.

Diljit Dosanjh and Arjun Rampal film, which is now titled “Punjab ’95,” will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Marta Balaga Forget Westerns: “The Ballad of Lefty Brown” director Jared Moshé is going on a whole different journey. In “Aporia,” which world premieres at Fantasia, Sophie (Judy Greer) is trying to keep things together after her Mal husband is killed in a drunk-driving accident. Struggling to comfort teenage daughter, she makes a shocking discovery: his friend, a former physicist, has managed to build a mysterious machine. Edi Gathegi, Faithe Herman and Payman Maadi also star.  “I like to call it a time-traveling movie that never goes back in time,” Moshé tells Variety.

Zendaya tennis drama Challengers has become a high-profile casualty of the SAG-AFTRA strike with confirmation that its Venice Film Festival world premiere has been cancelled.

Jennifer Garner has teens of the early ’00s feeling nostalgic as she celebrates her friend and 13 Going on 30 co-star Judy Greer‘s birthday.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Power publicist Alla Plotkin is teaming up with Jillian Roscoe, becoming a partner in Birch Public Relations. Roscoe launched the firm in March 2023 after leaving ID PR. Plotkin also departed ID at about the same time but didn’t announce her next move until her new partnership with Roscoe. Plotkin’s clients, including Sarah Paulson, Nicholas Braun, Bette Midler, Holland Taylor, Harvey Guillen and Titus Burgess, will join Birch’s roster, which includes Donald Glover, Jeremy Allen White, Sharon Horgan, John Cho, James Marsden, Kemp Powers, Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, Jesse Garcia, Mandy Moore, David Duchovny, Lake Bell, Jim Parsons, Fred Armisen, Jake Johnson, Ben Schwartz, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Melissa Rauch, Hannah Fidell, Ken Marino, Sarah Chalke, London Hughes, Lewis Howes, Zach Woods, Ty Burrell, Clay Tarver, Kevin Tancharoen, Julian Dennison, Jake Szymanski, Nicolette Robinson, Anna Drezen, Dan Perrault and Noah Pink.

TIFF has added the world premiere of Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils to their 48th lineup. It’s the director’s 18th title to premiere at TIFF.

Christopher Vourlias “Stay Online,” a Ukraine war drama from director Yeva Strelnikova which uses the innovative Screenlife format, has dropped a trailer ahead of its world premiere July 22 at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access (see below). Set after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, the film begins when a young woman (Liza Zaitseva) volunteering in Kyiv is given one of the thousands of laptops donated by ordinary Ukrainians to support the war effort. She’s asked to install a sensitive military application and deliver the laptop to her brother serving on the frontline. But the woman receives a mysterious video call from a young boy searching for his father, the laptop’s previous owner, who went missing during the Russian army’s brutal massacre of innocent civilians in Bucha. Reluctantly, she agrees to help find his missing parents — a decision that will ultimately force her to risk the lives of her own loved ones.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Nicolas Cage has cancelled attendance at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, North America’s biggest genre festival, where he was expected next weekend on July 22 for the world premiere of director Yuval Adler’s “Sympathy for the Devil,” where he was due to pick up Fantasia’s Cheval Noir career achievement award.  “We’re sad to announce that due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Nicolas Cage will no longer be able to attend the festival next weekend,” Fantasia has announced on its website.  “We’ll be updating our website regularly as we receive news from other announced guests while circumstances evolve. Our hearts are with the actors, as well as with the WGA, and we hope to see the unions get a fair deal soon,” the Festival added. 

Warner Bros has begun rounding out the cast for DC franchise resetter Superman: Legacy, studio chief Peter Safran has announced in a new piece with Vanity Fair, with Nathan Fillion (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Isabela Merced (Madame Web) and Edi Gathegi (The Harder They Fall) coming aboard.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While Hollywood braces for an actors strike, the key cast of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” — Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon — walked the red carpet at the Paris world premiere on Tuesday, but didn’t talk politics. Nolan, receiving rapturous applause as he walked into the theater, spoke onstage about his special bond with France and the 90-year old Grand Rex Theater, dating back to his 2000 film “Memento.” “When we made our first film ‘Memento,’ no one in the world would show this film,” Nolan said, until the Grand Rex Theater booked it. “Looking at the size of it I have no idea why, but people came and our lives changed and we love this theater,” added Nolan, who was surrounded by his cast and producers, including his wife Emma Thomas.

Sinatra, The Musical has cast Tony Award-winning actor-singer Matt Doyle as Frank Sinatra in the world premiere production of the musical bearing Ol’ Blue Eyes’ name, to be staged at Birmingham Rep in Birmingham, England, from September 23 through October 28.

Angelique Jackson The pink carpet at the “Barbie” premiere in Los Angeles on Sunday night was riddled with self-proclaimed Barbie Girls, but there was only one run-in that could be described as “When Barbie Met Barbie.” Just minutes before the Greta Gerwig-directed movie debuted before a packed house in the Shrine Auditorium, “Barbie” lead Margot Robbie met the OG Barbie, rapper Nicki Minaj. It’s the latest in a line of meta moments in and around the WB film, with Robbie posing — in a custom Schiaparelli gown that paid homage to 1960’s “Solo in the Spotlight Barbie” — alongside Minaj, who has proclaimed herself a Barbie since the early days of her career. Minaj’s latest track “Barbie World” — a collab with Ice Spice that remixes Aqua’s 1997 hit “Barbie Girl” — serves as the film’s end title song.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent EuropaCorp has dropped the trailer for Luc Besson’s anticipated comeback movie “Dogman” starring Caleb Landry Jones, a Texas-born musician and actor best-known for his Cannes-prizewinning role in “Nitram.” The movie, represented in international markets by Kinology, is expected to world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. The film tells the story of a child, bruised by life, who finds salvation through his love of dogs. It marks Besson’s first film since 2019’s “Anna.”  In the trailer, which Variety had seen exclusively before the Berlinale, Landry Jones stars as Douglas, a man who was abused as a child by his violent father and viciously thrown to the dogs. Instead of attacking him, the dogs came to protect him and became his allies. On a journey to heal from childhood trauma and physical injury, Douglas seeks to find his own path, even if it means bending societal rules and going overboard with his love of dogs. The trailer shows Landry Jones’ character experimenting with gender expression and embracing his singularity, while facing off gangsters in action-packed scenes. Douglas also appears to be interrogated by a detective, played by Jojo T. Gibbs.

America Ferrera stepped out on the pink carpet in a stunning two piece look for the premiere of Barbie in Los Angeles on Sunday (July 9).

Margot Robbie channeled old Hollywood glamour, while hitting the pink carpet at the world premiere of “Barbie” in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jul. 9.